THE trustees of Age Cymru Pembrokeshire are deeply saddened to announce that the charity will close on 31 August, 2016. Last year was a particularly challenging time for the charity as it struggled to deal with the impact of reduced funding.

Despite the best efforts of the trustees of Age Cymru Pembrokeshire and its sister organisation Age Cymru, it has become impossible to keep the charity open. We have left no stone unturned in our attempts to save Age Cymru Pembrokeshire.

Sadly, we have not been able to resolve the situation and the charity is closing on August 31.

Age Cymru Pembrokeshire has been proud to support the independence and wellbeing of older people in Pembrokeshire. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff and volunteers at Age Cymru Pembrokeshire and everyone else who has worked with us over the years to make a difference to the lives of older people in their communities.

At an extraordinary meeting of the members of Age Cymru Pembrokeshire this week the members voted to close and dissolve the charity. It was noted that they were particularly impressed by the responsible and professional manner in which the closure of the charity has been carried out by the trustees to ensure that wherever possible, clients continue to benefit from services which have been transitioned to other local organisations.

I’m heartened that by working with Hywel Dda Local Health Board, it has been possible to arrange for a significant amount of work undertaken by Age Cymru Pembrokeshire’s ‘Home from hospital’ service to be reprovided through PIVOT in collaboration with the Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services (PAVS), Pembrokeshire Care and Repair, British Red Cross and the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS).

As of Friday 26 August, all telephone calls to Age Cymru Pembrokeshire’s offices have been automatically diverted to Age Cymru’s advice line – Age Cymru Advice.

This is a free, impartial and bilingual advice service that is available from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday for older people and anyone else in Pembrokeshire.

Age Cymru Advice can provide information and practical advice on a range of subjects in Pembrokeshire including welfare benefits advice. If you want to contact Age Cymru Advice directly, the freephone number is 08000 223 444.

Age Cymru Pembrokeshire’s sister charities Age Cymru Sîr Gâr and Age Cymru Ceredigion will also be able to provide home visits for people needing help with tasks such as filling in forms.

Please ring Age Cymru Advice for further details.

MAUREEN COLGAN

Chair of the Age Cymru Pembrokeshire Board of Trustees